Contribution to the Revision Process on the United Nations Guidelines For Consumer Protection ( ) by OECD

Transcription

1 Contribution to the Revision Process on the United Nations Guidelines For Consumer Protection ( ) by OECD OECD contributions are given as comments to the original draft Implementation Report below. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNCTAD.

2 Implementation Report United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection ( )

3 INTRODUCTION UNCTAD is undertaking the revision of the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection (hereinafter UNGCP). This task was mandated by the first Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Consumer Protection, held in Geneva on 10 and 11 July The current Guidelines were drafted by ECOSOC and adopted by the General Assembly in 1985 (Resolution A/C.2/54/L.24 9TH). From the outset of the Guidelines, due consideration was given to the existing work on consumer protection issues, produced by organizations such as OECD, OAS, UNIDO and UNCITRAL, and prevailing norms and best practices were incorporated into the original document. As this assessment reflects, the UNGCP remain a valid and relevant document for consumer protection policy and have inspired a significant number of national consumer protection laws. In order for these Guidelines to continue to provide a relevant framework, a number of areas have been identified for their improvement. UNCTAD asked Member States, international organizations and other relevant stakeholders 1 to participate in this important project, by informing of the legislative processes of Member States, along with contemporary guidelines produced by OECD, OAS, ICPEN, UNCITRAL and Consumers International, among others. The goal of this first draft is to establish a benchmark on the use/adoption of the UNGCP and identify the emerging issues in the area of consumer protection. The current draft is to be circulated among members for their further comments which will be integrated in a final report. The latter will be discussed at the 13th Intergovernmental Group of Experts (IGE), Second Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on Consumer Protection, to be held in Geneva in July COMMENTARIES ON THE UNITED NATIONS GUIDELINES ON CONSUMER PROTECTION IN EXISTING LEGISLATIONS OF MEMBER STATES I. Objectives 1. Taking into account the interests and needs of consumers in all countries, particularly those in developing countries; recognizing that consumers often face imbalances in economic terms, educational levels and bargaining power; and bearing in mind that consumers should have the right of access to non-hazardous products, as well as the right to promote just, equitable and sustainable economic and social development and environmental protection, these guidelines for consumer protection have the following objectives: (a) To assist countries in achieving or maintaining adequate protection for their population as consumers; (b) To facilitate production and distribution patterns responsive to the needs and desires of consumers; (c) To encourage high levels of ethical conduct for those engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services to consumers; (d) To assist countries in curbing abusive business practices by all enterprises at the national and international levels which adversely affect consumers; (e) To facilitate the development of independent consumer groups; (f) To further international cooperation in the field of consumer protection; (g) To encourage the development of market conditions which provide consumers with greater choice at lower prices; (h) To promote sustainable consumption. 1. In general, most Member States have adopted the core objectives of the UNGCP. In many cases, such as Colombia 2, Costa Rica 3, the Dominican Republic 4, the European Union 5, El Salvador 6, Egypt 7, Mexico 8, Peru 9, Poland 10 and Switzerland 11, consumer protection has been enshrined within the Constitution. The Mexican judiciary has recognized consumer rights as human rights and has supported its findings of the UNGCP 12. All countries have a Consumer Protection law, recognizing consumer rights. The right of access to non-hazardous products and the right to just, equitable and sustainable economic and social development and

4 environmental protection are contained either in consumer protection laws or other national sectoral norms, such as competition or environmental protection laws. 2. Regarding the individual objectives set out in Part I, all countries have a legal framework aimed at adequate consumer protection. However, different countries focus on different sets of objectives. While the goal of curbing abusive practices that adversely affect consumers is unanimously recognized, the objective of sustainable consumption is seldom included in national consumer protection legislations 13. Most commonly, the objectives to facilitate adequate production and distribution patterns; to encourage high levels of ethical conduct for producers and distributers; and to facilitate the development of independent consumer groups are addressed indirectly through individual or ad hoc governmental policies 14. Interestingly, the development of market conditions is either directly addressed by consumer protection laws or reserved to the application of competition laws 15. Most consumer protection agencies hold powers over international cooperation 16, although this is not commonly recognized as an individual objective in many national legal systems. 3. Some intergovernmental organizations have also embraced the objectives of the UNGCP and developed instruments and programs to help their Member States achieve them. The OECD has drafted policy instruments and guidelines in relation to all of the UNGCP core principles. Further, it carries out research, promotes information sharing and develops policy principles 17 through its Committee on Consumer Policy (created in 1969). At the inter-american level, the OAS Member States have recognized some of these principles through the Charter of the OAS and several General Assembly Resolutions 18. Similarly, the European Commission has developed a comprehensive policy framework for consumer protection, as contained in the European Consumer Agenda, 19 especially in relation to consumer safety, universal service and consumer rights, 20 the facilitation of independent consumer groups and the development of market conditions within its single market. 4. Finally, Consumers International suggests inclusion of consumer participation in cultural, civic and educational affairs, with reference to the UN Declaration on Human Rights and Covenant on Economic Social & Cultural Rights II. General Principles 2. Governments should develop or maintain a strong consumer protection policy, taking into account the guidelines set out below and relevant international agreements. In so doing, each Government should set its own priorities for the protection of consumers in accordance with the economic, social and environmental circumstances of the country and the needs of its population, bearing in mind the costs and benefits of proposed measures. 3. The legitimate needs which the guidelines are intended to meet are the following: (a) The protection of consumers from hazards to their health and safety; (b) The promotion and protection of the economic interests of consumers; (c) Access of consumers to adequate information to enable them to make informed choices according to individual wishes and needs; (d) Consumer education, including education on the environmental, social and economic impacts of consumer choice; (e) Availability of effective consumer redress; (f) Freedom to form consumer and other relevant groups or organizations and the opportunity of such organizations to present their views in decision-making processes affecting them; (g) The promotion of sustainable consumption patterns. 4. Unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, particularly in industrialized countries, are the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment. All countries should strive to promote sustainable consumption patterns; developed countries should take the lead in achieving sustainable consumption patterns; developing countries should seek to achieve sustainable consumption patterns in their development process, having due regard to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The special situation and needs of developing countries in this regard should be fully taken into account.

5 5. Policies for promoting sustainable consumption should take into account the goals of eradicating poverty, satisfying the basic human needs of all members of society, and reducing inequality within and between countries. 6. Governments should provide or maintain adequate infrastructure to develop, implement and monitor consumer protection policies. Special care should be taken to ensure that measures for consumer protection are implemented for the benefit of all sectors of the population, particularly the rural population and people living in poverty. 7. All enterprises should obey the relevant laws and regulations of the countries in which they do business. They should also conform to the appropriate provisions of international standards for consumer protection to which the competent authorities of the country in question have agreed. (Hereinafter, references to international standards in the guidelines should be viewed in the context of this paragraph.) 8. The potential positive role of universities and public and private enterprises in research should be considered when developing consumer protection policies. 5. All UNCTAD Members carry out their consumer protection policies through governmental agencies, and have by and large adhered to the principles contained in the existing UNGCP, as contained in Guideline (hereinafter GL) 2. Consumer protection agencies hold the mandate to address most of the legitimate needs contained in GL 3. In many countries, however, powers to oversee some of the legitimate needs listed are shared with other executive agencies or even reserved exclusively to other sectoral authorities 21. For example, on the protection of health and safety (3.a), Mexico bestows shared powers on the consumer agency (Profeco) and the Sanitary Risk Commission (Cofepris). It is also common for the promotion of sustainable consumption patterns (3.g) to be excluded from the agency's mandate and is instead reserved for other authorities It is important to note that most consumer protection agencies are competent on the issues of protection of health and safety; promotion and protection of consumer's economic interests; access to adequate information; consumer education; consumer redress; and the right to association. The OECD has also contributed to the development and maintenance of strong consumer protection policies by its Member (and non-member) States through the work of a number of bodies, including its Committee on Consumer Policy and its sub- Committees, which have contemplated the legitimate needs recognized in the UNGCP, including the issues of sustainable consumption and infrastructure 23. Comment [Avery1]: See para 16, for examples of other bodies. 7. Most national consumer protection policies address the promotion of sustainable consumption patterns of GL 4 in an indirect manner, through information and educational campaigns 24. With the exception of Peru 25, the adoption of the goals of eradicating poverty and satisfying the basic human needs of all members of society, as outlined in GL 5, is still limited among national consumer protection legislation and policies, but may be enshrined in other areas of law 26. Most agencies consider themselves to have adequate infrastructures for the purposes of developing, implementing and monitoring consumer protection policies, as per GL 6, and a considerable number express a priority for rural populations or the poor 27. All national legislations contemplate the obligation of enterprises to conform practices to consumer protection norms, as contained in GL One emerging issue identified by Mexico is the lack of uniform application of international consumer standards to multinational enterprises (MNEs). Forty four countries 28 have subscribed to the OECD Declaration and Decisions on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises 29. This declaration has led to the adoption of the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises 30, which contains recommendations for responsible business conduct for national enterprises to be observed wherever they operate. Botswana cites increased consumer case complexity due to MNEs, which leads to delays in finding solutions and is further inhibited by a lack of training. Few countries 31 expressly recognize the potential positive role of universities and public and private enterprises in research and policy making. Instead, most reserve policy making for governmental authorities 32, although some agencies hold ad hoc agreements with national universities 33.

6 III. Guidelines 9. The following guidelines should apply both to home-produced goods and services and to imports. 10. In applying any procedures or regulations for consumer protection, due regard should be given to ensuring that they do not become barriers to international trade and that they are consistent with international trade obligations. 9. The general heading of GLs 9 and 10 have been widely adopted by UNCTAD Members. In some cases, the consumer protection agency is responsible for monitoring the uniform application of the UNGCP vis-à-vis national and imported products 34. In some other cases, these powers are shared between consumer protection agencies and other governmental authorities 35. On the issue of avoiding trade barriers, many members mention their World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations 36. These obligations and others are commonly fulfilled by governmental authorities other than consumer protection agencies 37, with some countries calling for increased inter-agency cooperation to avoid inconsistencies In reference to legitimate needs, Consumers International suggests the inclusion of technological neutrality (i.e. non-discrimination between on-line and offline equivalents), access to essential goods and services (for consistency with the rest of UNGCP, national constitutional and legal provisions and the UN s own positions) and consumer privacy and data protection (also for inclusion under e-commerce). A. Physical Safety 11. Governments should adopt or encourage the adoption of appropriate measures, including legal systems, safety regulations, national or international standards, voluntary standards and the maintenance of safety records to ensure that products are safe for either intended or normally foreseeable use. 12. Appropriate policies should ensure that goods produced by manufacturers are safe for either intended or normally foreseeable use. Those responsible for bringing goods to the market, in particular suppliers, exporters, importers, retailers and the like (hereinafter referred to as distributors ), should ensure that while in their care these goods are not rendered unsafe through improper handling or storage and that while in their care they do not become hazardous through improper handling or storage. Consumers should be instructed in the proper use of goods and should be informed of the risks involved in intended or normally foreseeable use. Vital safety information should be conveyed to consumers by internationally understandable symbols wherever possible. 13. Appropriate policies should ensure that if manufacturers or distributors become aware of unforeseen hazards after products are placed on the market, they should notify the relevant authorities and, as appropriate, the public without delay. Governments should also consider ways of ensuring that consumers are properly informed of such hazards. 14. Governments should, where appropriate, adopt policies under which, if a product is found to be seriously defective and/or to constitute a substantial and severe hazard even when properly used, manufacturers and/or distributors should recall it and replace or modify it, or substitute another product for it; if it is not possible to do this within a reasonable period of time, the consumer should be adequately compensated.

7 11. Most UNCTAD Members have adopted laws and regulations regarding product safety as referred to in GL 11, which is usually contained in Consumer Protection laws and/or other sectoral laws 39, covering a wide range of issues from work conditions 40 to nuclear products 41. This legislative framework usually engages consumer protection agencies along with other relevant sectoral authorities 42. In some countries, such as Canada 43, this topic is entirely assigned to the health authority while others, such as the United States 44, have created an autonomous body for consumer product safety. Some jurisdictions, such as Botswana, Colombia, the European Union 45, Peru and Portugal, have implemented safety records to ensure that products are safe for either intended or normally foreseeable use. 12. In all countries, policies have been adopted so as to ensure that distributors guarantee the safety of products under their care, as recommended in GL 12. Most consumer protection agencies have also conducted educational programmes on consumer safety and have the power to monitor the application of safety regulations 46. Costa Rica has specific regulations on labelling for safety purposes 47 in line with Central American Technical Regulations 48. Consumers International suggests inclusion in this guideline of reference to mutual comprehensibility of safety information, available online. 13. On the issue of hazard notification of GL 13, most national legislations bestow monitoring and communication powers on consumer protection agencies, along with other competent authorities. In all legislations, distributors are responsible for notifying governments and the public when a product under their care becomes hazardous. The means of communication to the public are varied, comprising announcements in official and private media 49. The European Union has put in place a rapid alert system (RAPEX) for dangerous consumer products with the exception of food, pharmaceutical and medical devices, which are covered by other mechanisms Nearly all national legislations include the obligation to recall hazardous products by manufacturers and/or distributions, as contained in GL Normally, it is consumer protection agencies that are responsible for monitoring such obligations, although some reserve the procedure for obtaining compensation to the judicial branch 52 or to alternative dispute settlement mechanisms The increasingly global economy and the fast-changing characteristics of trade have made international cooperation a key element for the prevention of unsafe and hazardous consumer goods entering national markets and/or their detection and recall once they have entered national markets. In this regard, the OECD has promoted international efforts related to all the provisions in GLs 11, 12, 13 and 14 and has recently created a Working Party on Consumer Product Safety 54. At the inter-american level, the OAS Member States established the first specialized hemispheric forum on consumer product safety in alliance with the Pan-American Health Organization 55. Within this framework, Latin American countries are moving towards the design and implementation of national systems on consumer product safety by coordination between consumer protection agencies, metrology and quality institutes and health authorities 56.

8 B. Promotion and protection of consumer's economic interests 15. Government policies should seek to enable consumers to obtain optimum benefit from their economic resources. They should also seek to achieve the goals of satisfactory production and performance standards, adequate distribution methods, fair business practices, informative marketing and effective protection against practices which could adversely affect the economic interests of consumers and the exercise of choice in the market place. 16. Governments should intensify their efforts to prevent practices which are damaging to the economic interests of consumers through ensuring that manufacturers, distributors and others involved in the provision of goods and services adhere to established laws and mandatory standards. Consumer organizations should be encouraged to monitor adverse practices, such as the adulteration of foods, false or misleading claims in marketing and service frauds. 17. Governments should develop, strengthen or maintain, as the case may be, measures relating to the control of restrictive and other abusive business practices which may be harmful to consumers, including means for the enforcement of such measures. In this connection, Governments should be guided by their commitment to the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 35/63 of 5 December Governments should adopt or maintain policies that make clear the responsibility of the producer to ensure that goods meet reasonable demands of durability, utility and reliability, and are suited to the purpose for which they are intended, and that the seller should see that these requirements are met. Similar policies should apply to the provision of services. 19. Governments should encourage fair and effective competition in order to provide consumers with the greatest range of choice among products and services at the lowest cost. 20. Governments should, where appropriate, see to it that manufacturers and/or retailers ensure adequate availability of reliable after-sales service and spare parts. 21. Consumers should be protected from such contractual abuses as one-sided standard contracts, exclusion of essential rights in contracts and unconscionable conditions of credit by sellers. 22. Promotional marketing and sales practices should be guided by the principle of fair treatment of consumers and should meet legal requirements. This requires the provision of the information necessary to enable consumers to take informed and independent decisions, as well as measures to ensure that the information provided is accurate. 23. Governments should encourage all concerned to participate in the free flow of accurate information on all aspects of consumer products. 24. Consumer access to accurate information about the environmental impact of products and services should be encouraged through such means as product profiles, environmental reports by industry, information centres for consumers, voluntary and transparent eco-labelling programmes and product information hotlines. 25. Governments, in close collaboration with manufacturers, distributors and consumer organizations, should take measures regarding misleading environmental claims or information in advertising and other marketing activities. The development of appropriate advertising codes and standards for the regulation and verification of environmental claims should be encouraged. 26. Governments should, within their own national context, encourage the formulation and implementation by business, in cooperation with consumer organizations, of codes of marketing and other business practices to ensure adequate consumer protection. Voluntary agreements may also be established jointly by business, consumer organizations and other interested parties. These codes should receive adequate publicity. 27. Governments should regularly review legislation pertaining to weights and measures and assess the adequacy of

9 the machinery for its enforcement. 16. The core mandate of today's consumer protection agencies comprises the pursuit of consumers' economic interests, especially in ensuring fair business practices, informative marketing and protection against abusive practices as referred to in GL 15. In many countries these responsibilities are shared with competition authorities 57. Further, in line with GL 16, there are various initiatives encouraging good business practices and prosecuting adverse ones 58, notably those reported by the United States, 59 which may involve consumer organizations 60. There are various means of encouraging consumer organizations to play a monitoring role, such as: cooperation agreements 61 ; counselling 62 ; or prizes 63. The OECD has contributed to the promotion and protection of consumers economic interests in OECD Member States and non-member States through the work of its Committee on Consumer Policy the Investment Committee and the Competition Committee 64, related to GLs 15, 19, 22, 24, 25 and 26. Comment [Avery2]: The Committee on Financial Markets could, arguably be added here. 17. Most national legislations bestow the powers to control restrictive and other abusive business practices of GL 17 65, and to encourage fair and effective competition of GL upon competition authorities 67, thus falling outside the mandate of consumer protection agencies 68. In some instances, powers over consumer protection and competition are bestowed upon the same agency 69. In a minority of cases, consumer protection agencies, which are functionally separate from competition authorities, also hold powers over these issues Almost all national legislations have laws and policies specifying the responsibility of producers and sellers regarding product quality and durability (GL 18), and the availability of after-sales service and spare parts (GL 20). The scope of that obligation varies from joint 71 to subsidiary liability 72, in particular over product and service guarantees One of the main objectives of consumer protection agencies is to prosecute contractual abuses referred in GL In this sense one-sided standard contracts are usually regulated 75. For example, Mexico produced a model contract for suppliers and distributors to adopt 76, and mandates registering all one-sided standard contracts relating to telecommunications 77, while Costa Rica 78 and Switzerland 79 enumerate the requirements for financial standard contracts. The Dominican Republic also asks providers to submit all one-sided standard contracts before their entry into force 80. Poland has produced guidelines for standard contracts applied in transactions with consumers in the telecommunication industry. Usually, exclusions of essential rights in contracts are forbidden 81 ; and unconscionable conditions of credit by sellers are either addressed in consumer protection law or through sectoral regulations Most countries have regulated the content of GL on the marketing and sales practices 84. The majority national legislations recognize the non-discrimination principle. 85 This principle aims at enabling informed and independent consumer decisions through the free flow of accurate information (GL ), which is pursued in the majority of countries. A considerable amount of countries lack specific provisions relating to the environmental impact of products, referred to in GL Those countries that do usually reserve such supervision to the Ministry of the Environment Misleading claims of GL 25 (even if they don't directly relate to environmental claims) are commonly monitored by consumer protection agencies 90. Some agencies have produced advertisement guidelines 91, and some maintain constant monitoring through specialized Observatories 92 to verify commercial claims in advertisement. Further, as contained in GL 26, some auto-regulation codes 93 and agreements 94 have been promoted by consumer protection agencies and adopted by the private sector. In Switzerland, self-regulation has been an entirely private initiative yielding very satisfactory results On the issue of weights and measures, as contained in GL 27 96, the majority of countries have adopted relevant legislation 97. In many countries, responsibility over this issue also falls on specialized or standards agencies 98. Mexico has established a multi-stakeholder body (Sistema Mexicano de Metrología, Normalización y Evaluación de la Conformidad) integrating fifteen public entities, and over 2,800 private ones. In the Western Hemisphere, the

10 OAS Member States have created the Inter-American Metrology System in order to promote regional cooperation in metrology and to help achieve the implementation of a Global Measurement System within the Americas. C. Standards for the safety and quality of consumer goods and services 28. Governments should, as appropriate, formulate or promote the elaboration and implementation of standards, voluntary and other, at the national and international levels for the safety and quality of goods and services and give them appropriate publicity. National standards and regulations for product safety and quality should be reviewed from time to time, in order to ensure that they conform, where possible, to generally accepted international standards. 29. Where a standard lower than the generally accepted international standard is being applied because of local economic conditions, every effort should be made to raise that standard as soon as possible. 30. Governments should encourage and ensure the availability of facilities to test and certify the safety, quality and performance of essential consumer goods and services. 22. The safety and quality of consumer goods and services has been a major concern for consumer protection legislations worldwide. Most countries have integrated the recommendations contained in the present GL 28, 29, and through laws and regulations. In many cases, consumer protection agencies share responsibilities over these issues with other authorities such as: Standard/Normalization Organizations, and Ministries of the Environment and/or Health 100. Mexico 101 and Colombia 102 have launched multi-stakeholders organizations to oversee the safety and quality of consumer goods. Some countries have referred to international standards on this issue emanating from the EU (SANCO) 103, FAO (CODEX) 104, ISO 105, OECD guidelines 106, and WTO. D. Distribution facilities for essential consumer goods and services 31. Governments should, where appropriate, consider: (a) Adopting or maintaining policies to ensure the efficient distribution of goods and services to consumers; where appropriate, specific policies should be considered to ensure the distribution of essential goods and services where this distribution is endangered, as could be the case particularly in rural areas. Such policies could include assistance for the creation of adequate storage and retail facilities in rural centres, incentives for consumer self-help and better control of the conditions under which essential goods and services are provided in rural areas; (b) Encouraging the establishment of consumer cooperatives and related trading activities, as well as information about them, especially in rural areas 23. Some members have adopted policies relating to the efficient distribution of goods and services to consumers 107, as referred to in GL Most countries have various governmental agencies holding powers on these issues 109. In Botswana, the Ministry of Trade and Industry intends to revive the dissolved Unit of Essential Supplies and there exists the Department of Cooperatives Development. Mexico In 2012, Mexico 110 destroyed 16 million hens due to SARS, which led to a significant increase in prices. This provoked a debate on how to promote safety and quality of essential consumer goods

11 while avoiding protectionist measures of GL 10, calling for further inter-agency cooperation to ensure coherent policies. Interestingly, a number of agencies are also mandated to encourage the establishment of consumer cooperatives Consumers International highlights the distinctions between urban and rural consumers and, in the light of the growth of peri-urban settlements, seeks to acknowledge that whilst not remote, contemporary urban consumers are also vulnerable. E. Measures enabling consumers to obtain redress 32. Governments should establish or maintain legal and/or administrative measures to enable consumers or, as appropriate, relevant organizations to obtain redress through formal or informal procedures that are expeditious, fair, inexpensive and accessible. Such procedures should take particular account of the needs of low-income consumers. 33. Governments should encourage all enterprises to resolve consumer disputes in a fair, expeditious and informal manner, and to establish voluntary mechanisms, including advisory services and informal complaints procedures, which can provide assistance to consumers. 34. Information on available redress and other dispute-resolving procedures should be made available to consumers. 25. All members have established administrative and judicial measures for consumers, and in some cases consumer organizations, to obtain redress 112 as set out in GL Experience has shown that businesses will only comply with compulsory consumer protection rules if there is a high likelihood that sanctions will be imposed for breaches of consumer protection primary rules, or if the direct and indirect cost of those sanctions would be commercially significant. In this sense, the threat of significant sanctions appears crucial for encouraging compliance with consumer protection laws. Consumer protection authorities are concerned not only with the enforcement of consumer protection laws through sanctions but also with the welfare of consumers. In so doing, sanctions can be accompanied with redress measures, such as corrective or complementary measures. Corrective measures are those aimed at compensating consumers and ensuring reparations for any unlawful damages. Complementary measures cover those aimed at ensuring general consumer interests, such as health or the environment 114. Comment [Avery3]: Mention could be made of the OECD Recommendation on Consumer Dispute Resolution and Redress, if you wish to allude to an international instrument. 26. Measures aimed at ensuring consumer redress can be adopted through administrative, judicial or alternative dispute-settlement procedures depending on each jurisdiction. While most consumer protection laws bestow powers over corrective and complementary measures upon consumer protection agencies, compensation is usually reserved for the judicial branch Most national legislations contemplate some alternative mechanisms of dispute-settlement such as conciliation, mediation or arbitration 116 (GL ). Depending on the country, these mechanisms can be voluntary 118 or mandatory 119. Costa Rica highlights how private mechanisms allow for more expeditious consumer redress, even if they are usually overseen by national consumer protection agencies. Regarding the publicity of redress mechanisms (GL 34), consumer protection agencies use the usual channels of communication 120.

12 F. Education and information programmes 35. Governments should develop or encourage the development of general consumer education and information programmes, including information on the environmental impacts of consumer choices and behaviour and the possible implications, including benefits and costs, of changes in consumption, bearing in mind the cultural traditions of the people concerned. The aim of such programmes should be to enable people to act as discriminating consumers, capable of making an informed choice of goods and services, and conscious of their rights and responsibilities. In developing such programmes, special attention should be given to the needs of disadvantaged consumers, in both rural and urban areas, including low-income consumers and those with low or non-existent literacy levels. Consumer groups, business and other relevant organizations of civil society should be involved in these educational efforts. 36. Consumer education should, where appropriate, become an integral part of the basic curriculum of the educational system, preferably as a component of existing subjects. 37. Consumer education and information programmes should cover such important aspects of consumer protection as the following: (a) Health, nutrition, prevention of food-borne diseases and food adulteration; (b) Product hazards; (c) Product labelling; (d) Relevant legislation, how to obtain redress, and agencies and organizations for consumer protection; (e) Information on weights and measures, prices, quality, credit conditions and availability of basic necessities; (f) Environmental protection; and g) Efficient use of materials, energy and water. 38. Governments should encourage consumer organizations and other interested groups, including the media, to undertake education and information programmes, including on the environmental impacts of consumption patterns and on the possible implications, including benefits and costs, of changes in consumption, particularly for the benefit of low-income consumer groups in rural and urban areas. 39. Business should, where appropriate, undertake or participate in factual and relevant consumer education and information programmes. 40. Bearing in mind the need to reach rural consumers and illiterate consumers, Governments should, as appropriate, develop or encourage the development of consumer information programmes in the mass media. 41. Governments should organize or encourage training programmes for educators, mass media professionals and consumer advisers, to enable them to participate in carrying out consumer information and education programmes. 28. Conducting educational and information programmes for consumers is one of the core responsibilities of consumer protection agencies 121. Nearly all members have adopted such programmes aiming to create discerning consumers. There is a multitude of interesting initiatives comprising information websites (Mexico 122, Switzerland 123 ), online courses (such as Chile 124 ), online counselling (United Kingdom 125 ), face-to-face courses (Dominican Republic 126, El Salvador 127 ); or even including consumer education in the curricula of the Ministry of Education 128 as advised in GL 36. Some have specialized units to carry out these roles 129. Each country has a different set of priorities, most of them found among those recommended in GL However, there are few examples of education and information campaigns undertaken by consumer organizations 131, businesses 132, and by the media 133, as recommended in GL There are some successful experiences on mass media information programmes of GL , namely in: Costa Rica 136, Dominican Republic 137, India 138, Israel 139 and Poland 140. Some consumer protection agencies have also adopted GL 41, especially training educators 141 and the media 142. Comment [Avery4]: OECD has some guidelines on financial literacy/education that could be mentioned.

13 G. Promotion of sustainable consumption 42. Sustainable consumption includes meeting the needs of present and future generations for goods and services in ways that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. 43. Responsibility for sustainable consumption is shared by all members and organizations of society, with informed consumers, Government, business, labour organizations, and consumer and environmental organizations playing particularly important roles. Informed consumers have an essential role in promoting consumption that is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable, including through the effects of their choices on producers. Governments should promote the development and implementation of policies for sustainable consumption and the integration of those policies with other public policies. Government policy-making should be conducted in consultation with business, consumer and environmental organizations, and other concerned groups. Business has a responsibility for promoting sustainable consumption through the design, production and distribution of goods and services. Consumer and environmental organizations have a responsibility for promoting public participation and debate on sustainable consumption, for informing consumers, and for working with Government and business towards sustainable consumption.36. Consumer education should, where appropriate, become an integral part of the basic curriculum of the educational system, preferably as a component of existing subjects. 44. Governments, in partnership with business and relevant organizations of civil society, should develop and implement strategies that promote sustainable consumption through a mix of policies that could include regulations; economic and social instruments; sectoral policies in such areas as land use, transport, energy and housing; information programmes to raise awareness of the impact of consumption patterns; removal of subsidies that promote unsustainable patterns of consumption and production; and promotion of sector-specific environmentalmanagement best practices. 45. Governments should encourage the design, development and use of products and services that are safe and energy and resource efficient, considering their full life-cycle impacts. Governments should encourage recycling programmes that encourage consumers to both recycle wastes and purchase recycled products. 46. Governments should promote the development and use of national and international environmental health and safety standards for products and services; such standards should not result in disguised barriers to trade. 47. Governments should encourage impartial environmental testing of products. 48. Governments should safely manage environmentally harmful uses of substances and encourage the development of environmentally sound alternatives for such uses. New potentially hazardous substances should be evaluated on a scientific basis for their long-term environmental impact prior to distribution. 49. Governments should promote awareness of the health-related benefits of sustainable consumption and production patterns, bearing in mind both direct effects on individual health and collective effects through environmental protection. 50. Governments, in partnership with the private sector and other relevant organizations, should encourage the transformation of unsustainable consumption patterns through the development and use of new environmentally sound products and services and new technologies, including information and communication technologies, that can meet consumer needs while reducing pollution and depletion of natural resources. 51. Governments are encouraged to create or strengthen effective regulatory mechanisms for the protection of consumers, including aspects of sustainable consumption. 52. Governments should consider a range of economic instruments, such as fiscal instruments and internalization of environmental costs, to promote sustainable consumption, taking into account social needs, the need for disincentives for unsustainable practices and incentives for more sustainable practices, while avoiding potential negative effects for market access, in particular for developing countries.

14 53. Governments, in cooperation with business and other relevant groups, should develop indicators, methodologies and databases for measuring progress towards sustainable consumption at all levels. This information should be publicly available. 54. Governments and international agencies should take the lead in introducing sustainable practices in their own operations, in particular through their procurement policies. Government procurement, as appropriate, should encourage development and use of environmentally sound products and services. 55. Governments and other relevant organizations should promote research on consumer behaviour related to environmental damage in order to identify ways to make consumption patterns more sustainable. 29. The UNGCP are very extensive on the recommendations relating to sustainable consumption. Although this issue is one of the core objectives of many governmental policies, in the majority cases it falls outside the mandate of consumer protection agencies. With exceptions of El Salvador, 143 Mexico, 144 and the United States 145 most national legislations reserve powers over sustainable consumption for the Ministry of the Environment 146 or an array of institutions 147. The European Union has been active in this field through various initiatives, inter alia: Eco-label, EMAS, Green Public Procurement, Eco-design, Energy Label, Multistakeholder Dialogue on Environmental Claims, PEF and OEF methodologies, Car Labelling Directive, Retail Forum for Sustainability, Food Sustainable Consumption and Production Round Table, Organic farming, activities against food waste 148. The United States has a Guide for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. 149 H. Measures relating to specific areas 56. In advancing consumer interests, particularly in developing countries, Governments should, where appropriate, give priority to areas of essential concern for the health of the consumer, such as food, water and pharmaceuticals. Policies should be adopted or maintained for product quality control, adequate and secure distribution facilities, standardized international labelling and information, as well as education and research programmes in these areas. Government guidelines in regard to specific areas should be developed in the context of the provisions of this document. 57. Food. When formulating national policies and plans with regard to food, Governments should take into account the need of all consumers for food security and should support and, as far as possible, adopt standards from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization Codex Alimentarius or, in their absence, other generally accepted international food standards. Governments should maintain, develop or improve food safety measures, including, inter alia, safety criteria, food standards and dietary requirements and effective monitoring, inspection and evaluation mechanisms. 58. Governments should promote sustainable agricultural policies and practices, conservation of biodiversity, and protection of soil and water, taking into account traditional knowledge. 59. Water. Governments should, within the goals and targets set for the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, formulate, maintain or strengthen national policies to improve the supply, distribution and quality of water for drinking. Due regard should be paid to the choice of appropriate levels of service, quality and technology, the need for education programmes and the importance of community participation. 60. Governments should assign high priority to the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes concerning the multiple uses of water, taking into account the importance of water for sustainable development in general and its finite character as a resource. 61. Pharmaceuticals. Governments should develop or maintain adequate standards, provisions and appropriate regulatory systems for ensuring the quality and appropriate use of pharmaceuticals through integrated national drug policies which could address, inter alia, procurement, distribution, production, licensing arrangements, registration systems and the availability of reliable information on pharmaceuticals. In so doing, Governments should take

15 special account of the work and recommendations of the World Health Organization on pharmaceuticals. For relevant products, the use of that organizations Certification Scheme on the Quality of Pharmaceutical Products Moving in International Commerce and other international information systems on pharmaceuticals should be encouraged. Measures should also be taken, as appropriate, to promote the use of international nonproprietary names (INNs) for drugs, drawing on the work done by the World Health Organization. 62. In addition to the priority areas indicated above, Governments should adopt appropriate measures in other areas, such as pesticides and chemicals in regard, where relevant, to their use, production and storage, taking into account such relevant health and environmental information as Governments may require producers to provide and include in the labelling of products. 30. As mentioned in GL 56 there are three 150 areas of specific concern in the current guidelines: food, water 151 and pharmaceuticals 152. These issues have been addressed by many consumer protection agencies albeit in an indirect manner since other governmental authorities usually hold powers 153. For example, on the area of food (GLs and 58), Colombia has implemented a programme on healthy diet through various means (labelling, advertising, food regulations, educational programmes) and Malaysia promotes the production of organic food 155 and biodiversity 156. On GL 61, Switzerland reports on a sophisticated system, which allows for an effective regulatory and policy framework on pharmaceuticals while respecting intellectual property 157. Regarding GL 62, the United Kingdom reports on the comprehensive regulations on pesticides in the framework of the EU. 158 IV. International Cooperation 63. Governments should, especially in a regional or subregional context: (a) Develop, review, maintain or strengthen, as appropriate, mechanisms for the exchange of information on national policies and measures in the field of consumer protection; (b) Cooperate or encourage cooperation in the implementation of consumer protection policies to achieve greater results within existing resources. Examples of such cooperation could be collaboration in the setting up or joint use of testing facilities, common testing procedures, exchange of consumer information and education programmes, joint training programmes and joint elaboration of regulations; (c) Cooperate to improve the conditions under which essential goods are offered to consumers, giving due regard to both price and quality. Such cooperation could include joint procurement of essential goods, exchange of information on different procurement possibilities and agreements on regional product specifications. 64. Governments should develop or strengthen information links regarding products which have been banned, withdrawn or severely restricted in order to enable other importing countries to protect themselves adequately against the harmful effects of such products. 65. Governments should work to ensure that the quality of products, and information relating to such products, does not vary from country to country in a way that would have detrimental effects on consumers. 66. To promote sustainable consumption, Governments, international bodies and business should work together to develop, transfer and disseminate environmentally sound technologies, including through appropriate financial support from developed countries, and to devise new and innovative mechanisms for financing their transfer among all countries, in particular to and among developing countries and countries with economies in transition. 67. Governments and international organizations, as appropriate, should promote and facilitate capacity-building in the area of sustainable consumption, particularly in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. In particular, Governments should also facilitate cooperation among consumer groups and other relevant organizations of civil society, with the aim of strengthening capacity in this area. 68. Governments and international bodies, as appropriate, should promote programmes relating to consumer education and information.